PAI Indicators: Hazardous Waste

As part of the Principle Adverse Impact measures for the SFDR, one mandatory indicator is to track any hazardous waste your company produced over the year.

Below, you can find an overview of which properties waste can have that then makes it hazardous (according to Directive 2008/98/EC of the EU), alongside some common examples of items that fall into the category:‍

Explosive

Substances and preparations which may explode under the effect of flame or which are more sensitive to shocks or friction than dinitrobenzene.

Some examples are fireworks, commercial explosives, military explosives, homemade explosive devices, small and large ammunition and pressurized gas vessels and cylindes

Oxidizing

Substances and preparations which exhibit highly exothermic reactions when in contact with other substances, particularly flammable substances.

Some examples are nitrates, chlorates, peroxides, permanganates and perchlorates.

Highly flammable

• Liquid substances and preparations having a flash point below 21 °C (including extremely flammable liquids),
• Substances and preparations which may become hot and finally catch fire in contact with air at ambient temperature without any application of energy,
• Solid substances and preparations which may readily catch fire after brief contact with a source of ignition and which continue to burn or to be consumed after removal of the source of ignition,
• Gaseous substances and preparations which are flammable in air at normal pressure, or
• Substances and preparations which, in contact with water or damp air, evolve highly flammable gases in dangerous quantities.

Examples of items with this property are petrol, diesel, lighter fuel, lamp oil, paint thinner, methylated spirits and ethanol, acetone, toluene, diethyl ether and alcohols

Flammable

Liquid substances and preparations having a flash point equal to or greater than 21 °C and less than or equal to 55 °C

Examples are firecrackers, cotton and dry leaves.

Irritant

Non-corrosive substances and preparations which, through immediate, prolonged or repeated contact with the skin or mucous membrane, can cause inflammation

Examples are solvents, cleaning products, acids, detergents, paints and adhesives.

Harmful

Substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may involve limited health risks.

Some examples are mercury, isocyanates, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), acrylates and pharmaceutical products such as steroids and nicotine.

Toxic

Substances and preparations (including very toxic substances and preparations) which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may involve serious, acute or chronic health risks and even death.

Examples of this property are fluorescent light bulbs, household batteries, lighter fluid, mercury (elemental), mercury thermometers and thermostats, nail polish/remover and pool chemicals.

Carcinogenic

Substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may induce cancer or increase its incidence.

There are many substances that have this property, such as flatoxins, aristolochic acids, arsenic, asbestos, benzene, benzidine, beryllium, 1,3-butadiene, cadmium, coal tar and coal-tar pitch, coke-oven emissions, crystalline silica (respirable size), erionite, ethylene oxide, formaldehyde, hexavalent chromium compounds, indoor emissions from the household combustion of coal, mineral oils: untreated and mildly treated, nickel compounds, radon, secondhand tobacco smoke (environmental tobacco smoke), soot, strong inorganic acid mists containing sulfuric acid, thorium, trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride and wood dust.

Corrosive

Substances and preparations which may destroy living tissue on contact.

Examples are petroleum parts washer solvents, solvent-based paint waste, waste kerosene or gasoline and spent paint booth exhaust filters.

Infectious

Substances and preparations containing viable micro-organisms or their toxins which are known or reliably believed to cause disease in man or other living organisms.

These substances include waste contaminated with blood and other bodily fluids (e.g. from discarded diagnostic samples), cultures and stocks of infectious agents from laboratory work (e.g. waste from autopsies and infected animals from laboratories), or waste from patients with infections (e.g. swabs and bandages).

Toxic for reproduction

Substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may induce non-hereditary congenital malformations or increase their incidence.

These are anesthetic gases, contraceptive hormones, cytotoxic medications, antineoplastic drugs, endocrine disruptors, flammable and organic solvents, heavy metals and controlled substances

Mutagenic

Substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or ingested or if they penetrate the skin, may induce hereditary genetic defects or increase their incidence

Examples are dioxins, furans, PAHs, PCBs and polybrominated diphenyls.

Toxic Gases

Waste which releases toxic or very toxic gases in contact with water, air or an acid.

Some waste items with that property are ammonia, chlorine, formaldehyde, hydrogen sulfide, methyl bromide, methyl isocyanate, oxides of nitrogen, ozone, phosgene and sulfur dioxide.

Sensitizing

Substances and preparations which, if they are inhaled or if they penetrate the skin, are capable of eliciting a reaction of hypersensitization such that on further exposure to the substance or preparation, characteristic adverse effects are produced.

Examples are diazomethane, chromium, nickel, formaldehyde, isocyanates, arylhydrazines, benzylic and allylic halides, and many phenol derivatives.

Ecotoxic

Waste which presents or may present immediate or delayed risks for one or more sectors of the environment.

These are either pesticides, used widely for preventing, destroying, or repelling any organism that may be considered harmful, or mold and other mycotoxins.

After disposal

Waste capable by any means, after disposal, of yielding another substance, which possesses any of the characteristics listed above (e.g. a leachate).

Want to know more about the other mandatory PAIs? Check out this article.

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